Pellegrino vs. Sotiropoulos, Paulino vs. Roberts official for UFC 116 in July

Two more bouts are official for this summer’s UFC 116 event, as the UFC today announced that previously reported bouts of Kurt Pellegrino vs. George Sotiropoulos and Julio Paulino vs. Daniel Roberts have been added to the card.

Pellegrino and Sotiropoulos meet on the evening’s main card, while Paulino vs. Roberts is booked for the card’s prelims.

Featuring a heavyweight title fight between champion Brock Lesnar and interim title holder Shane Carwin, UFC 116 takes place July 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view.

Pellegrino (15-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) endured mixed results in first six trips to the octagon in earning just a 3-3 mark. The 31-year-old “Batman” has since garnered four-straight wins over tough opponents Fabricio Camoes, Josh Neer, Rob Emerson and Thiago Tavares and has many MMA pundits calling for a Pellegrino lightweight title shot with another victory or two.

Sotiropoulos (12-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has quietly worked his way into the UFC’s lightweight title picture. After being eliminated by Tommy Speer in “The Ultimate Fighter 6″ tournament, Sotiropoulos has reeled off five-straight wins in the UFC. The Australian made a bold statement with a one-sided unanimous-decision win over former title challenger Joe Stevenson at February’s UFC 110.

Paulino (17-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) signed with the UFC earlier this year. His contract came after a successful run in his home state of Alaska and the Alaska Fighting Championship. After a seven-fight win streak, which included defeats of notables such as UFC vets Rob Yundt and Terry Martin, he replaced an injured Rob Kimmons and fought Mike Pierce at UFC on Versus 1 and suffered a lopsided unanimous-decision loss.

Meanwhile, Roberts (9-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), an NAIA All-American wrestler, also signed with the UFC earlier this year after posting a 9-0 record (with seven submission victories) while fighting throughout Oklahoma. The Tulsa-based fighter then replaced an injured Anthony Johnson and fought John Howard at UFC on Versus 1 in March. However, Roberts suffered a knockout loss just two minutes into the first round for his first career defeat.

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